Garment retainer



Jan. 17, 1967 w. L. (IHALFIN 3,298,036

GARMENT RETAINER Filed Aug. 5, 1964 INVENTOR.

William L.Chalfin ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,298,036 GARMENT RETAINER William L. Chalfin, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignor to Regina The present invention relates to a garment retainer and more particularly to a garment retainer for application to the inside waistband of a lower garment to prevent the pulling out of an upper garment.

A common source of annoyance is the tendency of an upper garment such as a blouse or shirt to pull out from the lower garment; for example, skirt or trousers worn with it. It is also a major cause of an unkempt appearance. Another factor which contributes to an untidy look is the rolled-over waistband. There can be no question that to present a truly tailored appearance the shirt must be completely tucked in and the waistband should remain smooth and upright.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a garment retainer which will prevent the pulling out of an upper garment from a lower garment.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a garment retainer which may have incorporated in it, a stiffening member to prevent waistband rollover.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a garment retainer which may be readily applied to the inner waistband of any lower garment.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a garment retainer of the present invention as applied to an inner waistband;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of yet another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawing, the garment retainer is illustrated in FIG. 1 as stitched to the inner waistband 10 of a garment. This may be any type of lower garment such as trousers, skirt, or shorts. The material of the lower garment is of no consequence as the garment retainer may effectively be used with all materials.

The retainer itself has an outermost face 12 of a slip resistant material such as natural or synthetic rubber or foamed rubber. When any upper garment, for example, a shirt or blouse, is tucked inside the waistband 10, the outermost face 12 of the garment retainer is in contact with it and it prevents the upper garment from pulling out of the lower garment contrary to its natural tendency caused by normal bodily motions. The retainer has an elongated, substantially rectangular, shape. A size of 2 /2" by has been found highly effective.

The retainer also includes a stiffening member 14 which is an elongated strip of a semi-rigid material, preferably plastic, of a width and length that is somewhat smaller than the outermost face 12 in order to leave a peripheral flange 16. It is suggested that a A" flange is quite satisfactory. The retainer is applied to the inner waistband 10, as by stitching 18 around the flange 16. A plurality of these garment retainers are secured to the lower gar- 3,298,036 Patented Jan. 17, 1967 ice ment as described and act not only to prevent an upper garment from pulling out, but also to keep the waistband smooth and to prevent its rollover. For maximum effectiveness of the latter function it is preferred that the retainers be secured to the lower garment in a vertical position. For a narrow waistband, of course, the retainer can be secured horizontally or diagonally.

The invention contemplates that an effective but inexpensive retainer can be manufactured utilizing simply heat and pressure to seal together the elements of the re tainer. For a retainer with a finished appearance the stiffening member may be sandwiched between two layers of cloth 20 and 22 which have been plastic-coated so that they will adhere to one another and to the slip resistant material with heat and pressure. The cloth layers 20 and 22 are substantially identical in size to the outermost face 12 and likewise form flanges through which stitching may be performed. The formation of the retainer by heat and pressure remains the same.

A number of other possible arrangements of materials which may also be used are illustrated in FIGS. 3 through 7. In FIG. 3 an outermost face 24 of slip resistant material and a cloth layer 26 sandwich between them a stiffening member 28.

FIG. 4 shows another extremely simple embodiment in which an outermost face 30 of slip resistant material is secured to a stiffening member 32 of smaller dimensions and there are no other elements included.

In FIG. 5 a single layer of cloth 34 is positioned between a stiffening member 36 and. an outermost face 38. An alternate arrangement is shown in FIG. 6 where two faces 40 and 42 are made of slip resistant material and a stiffening member 44 is held between them.

Still another possible arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 7 wherein there is a stiffening member 46, a layer of plastic 48, such as a polymer that may be activated to perform a bonding function with heat and pressure, next to the stiffening member 46. Following this there is a cloth layer 50 and then an outermost face 52 of slip resistant material.

. In all these examples a garment retainer is produced which has a stiffening member and an outermost face of a slip resistant material which acts, when applied to an inner waistband, to prevent the pulling out of an upper garment which has been tucked into a lower garment. The retainer further acts to prevent waistband rollover contributing greatly to the overall appearance of the costume. Moreover, each of these examples may be readily made by the simple process of a heat and pressure weld over the entire surface of the retainer or by one or more spot welds.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. A garment retainer comprising a stiffening member, two layers of plastic-coated cloth sandwiching said stiffening member, and a strip of highly slip resistant material having a length and width substantially identical to said cloth layers and secured to an outermost face of one of the said cloth layers, said stiffening member having a width and length smaller than the slip resistant material and cloth layers to leave a peripheral flange through which the retainer may be sewn to the inside waistband of a lower garment to prevent waistband rollover and to prevent the pulling out of an upper garment.

2. A garment retainer comprising a stiffening member of an elongated strip of semi-rigid material, a layer of cloth, and a strip of highly slip resistant material having a length and width substantially identical to said cloth layer, said cloth layer and said strip of slip resistant material secured together and sandwiching said stitfening member, said stiffening member having a width and length smaller than the outermost face and the cloth layer to leave a peripheral flange through which the retainer may be sewn to the inside Waistband of a lower garment to prevent waistband rollover and to prevent the pulling out of an upper garment.

3. A garment retainer comprising a stiffening member of an elongated strip of semi-rigid material, a layer of plastic secured to said stiffening member, a layer of cloth secured to the face of said plastic layer opposite said strip and a strip of slip resistant material secured to the face of said cloth layer opposite said plastic layer, said stifiening member having a width and length smaller than the plastic and cloth layers and said slip resistant material to leave a peripheral flange through which the retainer may be sewn to the inside Waistband of a lower garment to prevent waistband rollover and to prevent the pulling out of an upper garment.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1919 Basch 2-320 2/1932 Panes 2-260 5/ 1940 Klein 2-237 3/ 1953 Feinberg 2-236 3/ 1955 Wendell 2-236 X 5/ 1958 Wendell 2-236 8/1963 Boser et a1. 2-260 FOREIGN PATENTS 9/1951 Canada. 3/ 1939 Germany.

1913 Great Britain.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Examiner.

20 A. R. GUEST, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A GARMENT RETAINER COMPRISING A STIFFENING MEMBER, TWO LAYERS OF PLASTIC-COATED CLOTH SANDWICHING SAID STIFFENING MEMBER, AND A STRIP OF HIGHLY SLIP RESISTANT MATERIAL HAVING A LENGTH AND WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL TO SAID CLOTH LAYERS AND SECURED TO AN OUTERMOST FACE OF ONE OF THE SAID CLOTH LAYERS, SAID STIFFENING MEMBER HAVING A 